Last night they blacked out their official website and Facebook page, and published an empty black square on their Instagram account at the same time.

It marks the beginning of the end of a long wait for fans after Slipknot's career was thrown off course by the death of bassist Paul Gray in 2010. Last year they made the surprise announcement that they'd split with drummer Joey Jordison - a move that "shocked" the sticksman.

Now Taylor tells Kerrang the band have 17 demos to take into the studio with them, adding: "I've written lyrics for everything we have right now, and it's feeling pretty good.